Lubricating fabric or bearings.



N. L. OBRECHT.

LUBRICATING FABRIC FOR BEARINGS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. to. 1914.

1, 1 82, 1 O3 Patented May 9, 1916.

WITNESSES: I/V VE N T 0/? A TTOR/VEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. A

NORBERT L. OBRECHT, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOB, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

TO 0. AND S. BEARING COMPANY, A PARTNERSHIP CONSISTING 0F NEWTON SKILL- MAN AND HARRY SKILLMAN, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

LUBRICATING FABRIC FOR BEARINGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 9, 1916.

Application filed October 10, 1914. Serial No. 866,119.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NORBERT L. OBRECHT, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lubricating Fabric for Bearings, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention relates to a lubricating fabric for bearings.

The invention resides in the novel construction and formation of the fabric so as to provide a suitable fabric vfrom which a bushing or bearing may be made.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a piece of fabric embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a section on the line 00-410 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a bearing provided with a bushing formed from the improved fabric; Fig. 4 is a crosssection therethrough; Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section thereof; and Fig. 6 illustrates a step in the formation of the bearing.

My improved lubricating material comprises a fibrous substance treated with a lubricant, the fibrous substance being of such a construction that it will tend to retain its shape, and being so treated as to form in effect a self-lubricating fabric. Preferably the fibrous material is a woven fabric having interwoven therein a sufiicient quantity of fine wire or the like to better maintain the shape of the fabric. In the structure illustrated in the drawings, A designates an asbestos fabric having interwoven therein a quantity of fine wire B. Preferably the fabric is treated with a mixture of finely powdered solid lubricant'and a carrying agent which will carry the lubricant thoroughly into the fibrous substance, substantially, if not all of the carrying agent being afterward driven out of the fabric as by compressing the latter. Graphite forms a very eificient lubricant, and in impregnating the fibrous substance with graphite, the fibrous substance is placed in a mixture of oil, and tallow or parafiin preferably paraffin-and finely powdered graphite having about the proportion of two of graphite, one of oil and one of paraffin, the mixture being maintained at a temperature of about 300 F., or more, so as to increase the liquidity of the oil and paraflin to permit the same to carry the graphite thoroughly between the fibers of the material being impregnated. The length of time which the fibrous substance remains in the mixture depends of course, upon the thickness of the fibrous substance employed.

In impregnating the fibrous substance it is preferably treated in strips and then cut into the desired lengths. After the material is treated it may be subjected to pressure to drive out a part or substantially all of the carrying agent, or it may be merely cut into strips and the driving out of the carrying agent then effected. In the structure illustrated the fabric embodying the invention is employed as a bushing or a bearing, comprising relatively-movable members C and D. The inner member C comprises a sleeve having flanged ends E and arranged within the outer member D. In assembling the bearing the strip, which preferably has one end tapered as at F and the other end provided with a cooperating recess G to form a suitable joint, is wrapped around the inner member and the inner member and the fabric bushing then inserted within the outer member D. The inner member is then expanded or the outer member contracted to cause the bushing to be compressed therebetween, the degree of the compression depending of course upon what the bearing is to be employed for. The one type of bearing, however, merely illustrates one use of my improved self-lubricating fabric, and it is to be understood that it may be employed for various purposes. Also the degree of compression to which the fabric is subjected after it has been treated as hereinbefore described, may be varied as desired, but preferably the fibrous material is very highly compressed, since this drives out substantially all of the carrying agent. For instance, when the bearing heretofore described is employed in connection with the shackle of a spring of a vehicle, a pressure of about 10,000 pounds is employed in contracting the outer member or expanding the inner.

The wire interwoven in the fabric assists in maintaining the shape of the fabric, and although the fabric when highly compressed is comparatively hard, it is found when the fabric is employed as a bushing between two sufficiently to remain in close contact with the surfaces of the relatively-movable members even after it has been in use for a considerable period of time.

What I claim as my invention is 1. A self-lubricating fabric for bearings and the like, comprising a compressed expansible woven fabric impregnated with a lubricant.

2. A self-lubricating fabric for bearings and the like, comprising a compressed woven fabric having a wire reinforcement interwoven therein, said fabric being treated with a solid lubricant.

3. A self-lubricating fabric for bearings and the like, comprising a compressible expansible fabric woven out of tou h fibrous material, and treated with a solid ubricant.

ment interwoven therein, said asbestos being v treated with a solid lubricant.

5. A self-lubricating fabric for bearings and the like, comprising woven asbestos highly compressed and expansible, said asbestos having a wire reinforcement interwoven therein and being impregnated with a solid lubricant.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature 30 in presence of two witnesses.

NORBERT L. OBRECHT.

' Witnesses:

WM. J. BELKNAP, HARRY SKILLMAN. 

